Category: Star Wars

I’m opening this edition up to input from readers in order so that we can all discuss our observations and weigh facts and clues in order to determine placement for forthcoming (and possibly past) episodes. I’m also conducting the project at The Clone Wars’ imdb forum, found here.

I’ve talked about my methods for determining such placements in light of ambiguous or contradictory evidence, but I’ll outline some of them again:

#1: Don’t move an episode from it’s air date order unless there’s specific evidence to do so.

#2: Be prepared to constantly re-evaluate episode placement in light of new evidence.

#3: If some evidence contradicts other evidence, weigh both and accept that there may be a perceived continuity error somewhere.

#4: What seem like continuity errors may get explained in future episodes.

#5: Evidence can come from episodes themselves, the Season 1 to 3 Web Comics or official statements from The Clone Wars staff (the key word is “official”).

#6: Evidence appearing IN an actual episode (or S1 to S3 Web Comic) trumps evidence from official statements if there is an apparent contradiction.

Those are basically the rules I’ve followed to this point. Since I’m opening it up to discussion, I’ll add one more:

#7: If there’s disagreement, I’ll make the call as to how it appears in the 9th Edition of the Chronology here. (This may seem ultimately undemocratic, but the trade-off is that you are free to use and modify my Chronology for your personal use. I won’t take offence if you disagree and decide to maintain your own chronology or timeline. If you post your own online, please credit me in part if it was based on any of my previous editions).

I think these guidelines are a good place to start and set reasonable parameters for examining the series. They’ve worked for me for the last few years. You’ll note I’ve not included books, video games, RPGs or printed comics as viable sources, mostly because there are so many and it would take forever to read them all, and because as things like the books progress, they present their own continuity problems between themselves and the rest of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. The only reason the Web Comics were allowed as references was because they began as direct tie-ins to specific Clone Wars episodes, rather than separate off-shoots. Yes, there are books that tie into the series, but it becomes a muddy issue to include some and not others. Since the Web Comics are no longer produced, since the end of Season 3, it’s easy to draw the line between them and other EU literature and games.

Now, you’ll note some changes from the 8th Edition. The biggest was separating the Ryloth Heptalogy. It broke my heart to do it, because seeing a 7-episode arc, augmented by specific web comics, was a thing of beauty for me and I was very proud of it. Re-examination of the significance of the web comic “Procedure” forced my hand and I moved The Battle Of Ryloth arc back to its place later in Season 1. I know believe it makes more sense this way, that the planning of the assault to liberate Ryloth justifies the delay in launching that offensive. Plus, the Y-wings that appear weren’t in regular service until after “Procedure.” It also places the Twileck Numa as an orphan for a bit longer, which adds to her drama, and it give freedom fighter Cham Syndulla ample opportunity to engage in the battle recounted in the web comic “The Song of Cham Syndulla,” which I now realize he wouldn’t have had time to engage in if the Republic charge on Ryloth took place so soon after its fall.

For Season 5, I think most of the discussion will centre on the episodes we’re about to see. You’ll see I’ve made notes about the placement of the episodes we’ve seen so far, partly because they’re my actual notes about these episodes and partly to spark discussion.

[Update 02/11/12: The recent purchase of Lucasfilm by Disney has brought a wave of uncertainty and speculation about the future of Star Wars. Disney has proposed at least three new films, Episodes VII, VII and IX, with the possibility of more after that. The continuation of The Clone Wars, however, is another story. Its fate rests on whether Disney finds a new home for it in the US after the contract with the Turner-owned Cartoon Network is up at the end of Season 5. It could move to Disney😄, a more age-appropriate channel, or be cancelled so that the resources it uses can be directed to the new films. As of this writing, no one is entirely sure what will happen next. It’s safe to assume Season 5 will run its course, but at the moment, anything past that is a big question mark. The 9th Edition Chronology Project will continue in the meantime.]

*** ONDERON TETRALOGY
The Clone Wars Season 5: Episode 2: “A War On Two Fronts”
The Clone Wars Season 5: Episode 3: “Front Runners”
The Clone Wars Season 5: Episode 4: “The Soft War”
The Clone Wars Season 5: Episode 5: “Tipping Points”
(Originally, this arc was to be the opening of Season 5, but was switched with “Revival,” noted in Star Wars Insider)

*** YOUNG JEDI TETRALOGY [Updated 03/11/12]
The Clone Wars Season 5: Episode 6: “The Gathering”
The Clone Wars Season 5: Episode 7: “A Test Of Strength” [Updated 12/11/12]
The Clone Wars Season 5: Episode 8: “Bound For Rescue” [Updated 18/11/12]
The Clone Wars Season 5: Episode 9: “A Necessary Bond” [Updated 27/11/12]
(“The Gathering shows clips of the Onderon arc in its intro, positioning it after that tetralogy) [Update end 03/11/12]
(The previously noted “placeholder episode” for the droid attack on Florrum is now known to be “A Necessary Bond,” so the placeholder has been removed) [Updated 27/11/12]

***
The Clone Wars Season 5: Episode 1: “Revival”
(Takes place at some point after the attack on Hondo’s base in “A Necessary Bond.” “Revival” will be left in this position until/unless further information is known.) [Updated 27/11/12]

Here’s Part 4 of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars Chronology Walkthrough.

Part 3 wrapped up what has so far been most of the non-linear episodes. For the first two and a half seasons, The Clone Wars moved back and forth through its timeline, which is what prompted me to develop the Chronology to begin with. At the end of the Senate Trilogy, the episodes appear to air in chronological order (with one notable exception as of the end of Season 4). The word from The Clone Wars staff is that this should remain the case for the time being.

However, where that portion of the series ends, a new one begins. Until the end of Season 4, which is when I’m writing this, the series now firmly rests on a foundation of plot, characters and stories which came before. As we’ll see, even as new arcs develop, the series continues threads started much earlier.

THE NIGHTSISTERS TRILOGY
This three-part arc shows us the betrayal of Asajj Ventress by her master, Count Dooku. Under orders from Darth Sidious, Dooku is told to eliminate Ventress and the attempt, made during a space battle with the Republic, leaves her injured and broken. She makes her way back to her people, the Nightsisters of Dathomir, who take her in and help her form a plan of revenge. Her strike team fail to kill Dooku, so they change tactics by “recruiting” a Zabrak named Savage Opress. The Sisters use Dark Force “magic” to turn him into a brutal killing machine and deliver him to Dooku as a new apprentice. Opress is sent on a mission to capture King Katuunko of Toydaria, but the King is killed in the process. Dooku is angered by Opres’s failure and Ventress springs her trap, revealing Opress now only obeys her. As the Dooku, Ventress and Opress fight, Anakin and Obi-Wan, investigating Opress’s killing spree, arrive on Dooku’s ship and an all-out four-way battle erupts. It ends in a draw, as Ventress escapes and disappears, Obi-Wan and Anakin fight their way off the ship and Opress returns to Dathomir. Opress is told by Mother Talzin of the Nightsisters that he must seek out his brother: Darth Maul.

This arc sets up many details that play out over the next season and a half, so far. Dooku is now without an apprentice. Ventress is a loose-cannon. The Nightsisters are established as a new dark enemy of Dooku.

It also picks up the previous Ryloth Heptology, wherein King Katuunko signed a treaty with the Republic to allow them use of Toydaria as a staging ground. Here, Dooku exacts his revenge, though Katuunko is killed. As the Ryloth arc was one of the earliest events in The Clone Wars, it demonstrates that no plot point is too old to be revisited.

MORTIS TRILOGY
This interlude into a nexus of the Force finds Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka on the world of Mortis, a place where the Force flows into the galaxy, investigating an ancient Jedi distress call. Mortis is guarded by three individuals: The Father, The Son and The Daughter…all Force Weilders. The Weilders and possibly the Force itself grants the three Jedi visions. Ahsoka sees a vision of her possible older self, warning her that following Anakin may lead to her destruction. Obi-Wan sees the late Qui-Gon Jinn, who questions Obi-Wan about how Anakin’s training is coming. Anakin sees the his mother, Shmi, in a vision controlled by The Son. Anakin is tested as to whether he is really The One, to guide the Force from this place. He passes his test, but rejects the offer to stay and control the Son and Daughter, which the Father feels will bring balance to the Force. The Jedi try to leave, but are stopped by The Son, who orchestrates their crash-landing back onto Mortis. The Son turns Ahsoka to the Dark Side and attacks The Father. Anakin and Ahsoka duel, with Anakin horrified at her Dark Side infection. Obi-Wan joins Anakin in trying to save Ahsoka. The Daughter and The Son do battle at the same time, before The Father intervenes. The Son kills Ahsoka. The Daughter sacrifices herself to save The Father and, with her dying act, resurrects Ahsoka. Anakin and The Father know they have to stop The Son before they leave, of the Force will stay out of balance. Anakin has a vision of Qui-Gon Jinn, who tells him to trust his instincts. Anakin seeks out The Son to try to stop him and to face his own darkness. The Son shows Anakin a vision of all that he’ll become, including his eventual fall to the Dark Side. The vision leads Anakin to join The Son, who promises him that they can bring peace and order to the galaxy. The Father erases the vision and Anakin no longer remembers what he will become. The Father and the Jedi defeat The Son. The Father dies, telling Anakin he brought balance to Mortis and will do so again. The Jedi are transported back to normal space.

This arc raises more questions than it answers, mostly around the nature of the Force and what the Jedi’s actions and visions meant. Was Qui-Gon really addressing Obi-Wan and Anakin? Does the Force know Ahsoka’s future? We’re left wondering.

CITADEL TRILOGY
Jedi Master Even Piell and his fleet have been captured by the Separatists. Piell has information on the Nexus Route, a set of secret hyperspace lanes, which both the Republic and the Separatists want. He’s being held at the Citadel, a former Jedi prison. Along with R2-D2 and C-3PO, clones Echo, Fives, Rex, and Cody, Anakin and Obi-Wan plan to break Piell and his crew out. Ahsoka want to go, but Anakin refuses. She discusses it will Plo and sneaks into the mission anyway, much to Anakin’s surprise. The rescue team sneaks in carbon frozen, transported by the droids. The team break in and find Piell and the survivors of his crew, including Captain Tarkin. It turns out Piell and Tarkin each have half the information memorized for the Nexus Route. Tarkin meets Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi for the first time. During the escape, Echo and Piell are killed, but Piell has time to pass on to Ahsoka his half of the information. We also learn that Ahsoka lied to her master about Plo giving her permission to join the mission.

Upon returning to Coruscant, Ahsoka and Tarkin differ on who will get their respective halves of the information. Tarkin will only give it to Palpatine and Ahsoka to the Jedi Council. Yoda says he’ll meet with Palpatine to figure what best to do.

The Citadel prison was the basis for the final test Domino Squad and the other clone trainees had to pass in order to graduate, way back in “Clone Cadets.” It seems the Republic felt its reputation and design was effective enough to use for training their troops. Tarkin’s presence in the Clone Wars, like that of Admiral Yuleran, makes perfect sense, given his age in “A New Hope” (it’s noteworthy that Yuleran is also present at the meeting with Tarkin, Darth Vader and the rest of Tarkin’s staff aboard the Death Star in that film). In this arc, that he and Anakin grow to respect each other should come as no surprise to anyone. Peill’s death in this episode causes a significant Expanded Universe continuity problem, as other EU books explicitly have him survive past Order 66. Fives is now the lone survivor of Domino Squad.

KIDNAPPED TWO-PARTER
The battleground of Felucia rages on. While on a mission there, Ahsoka is kidnapped by big game Trandoshan hunters and taken to another planet to be prey for their sport. On the planet she finds a group of former-Jedi younglings (Kalifa, Jinx and O-Mer). Kalifa is killed as the group of padawans go on the offensive to escape. As they fight to survive, a new shipment of prey brings a Wookiee, Chewbacca, whom the padawans save. Together, the prey take on the hunters head-on and are able to call for help. Wookiee reinforcements arrive led by General Tarfful, transported by the mercenaries Sugi and Seripas. The hunters are killed and the prey are rescued. On Coruscant, Ahsoka is reunited with the Jedi and her master.

Clones Sinker and Boost, part of Plo Koon’s “Wolfpack” unit appear in the episode “Padawan Lost,” having last been seen in the Malevolence arc. Sugi was last seen with Embo at Jabba’s Palace in “Sphere Of Influence” and Seripas, now without his battle armour, was last seen on Felucia (before it became a warzone) in “Bounty Hunters.” This is chronologically the first appearance of Chewbacca on screen (though other Expanded Universe stories do feature him earlier), along with Tarfful. Both appear to have a moment on Coruscant with Yoda. It’s not clear if this is the first time they meet the Jedi Master. Ahsoka’s ability to not only survive, but to lead the other prey well, using only their wits and the Force, weapon-free, demonstrates how far she continues to come in her Jedi training, noted earlier in “Assassin.” This may not be the last we see of padawans Jinx and O-Mer, now that they’re pack in the care of the Jedi.

SHADOW WARRIOR
The fallout from the Separatist bombing on Coruscant has reached Naboo, in the form of rumours that the Gungans are planning to switch sides. Anakin and Padme are sent to meet Jar Jar and the Queen there to see what’s going on. The new Gungan Boss, Lyonie, is indeed pressing for a revolt against the Naboo people and a march on the city of Theed. It turns out Leoni is being controlled by a nefarious Gungan minister, Rish Loo, who is in league with Dooku. Lyonie is seriously injured when he confronts Loo and Loo flees. Lyonie’s orders to march on Theed can’t be reversed by Lyonie while he’s in a coma, so it’s decided that Jar Jar, virtually his twin in appearance, will impersonate Lyonie in an attempt to stop the invasion. The Separatist army arrives and Jar Jar is brought before Grievous to explain why he called for the invasion to halt, while Anakin chases down Loo. Gungan General Tarpals, aiding Jar Jar, sends word to Padme that Grievous is preparing to invade the city. In one on one combat, Tarpals is able to defeat Grievous, sacrificing himself for the sake of victory. The Gungans capture Grievous.

Anakin tracks Loo to a secret hideout on Naboo and confronts Dooku, who kills Loo. Anakin is bested in their duel (fighting Dooku and a squad of MagnaGuards) and Padme later agrees to a prisoner exchange, Anakin for Grievous (Sidious’s idea, as he needs Grievous for the war) and both captives are returned to their sides. Jar Jar is commended for his role in stopping the conflict on Naboo by the real Lyonie and the Queen.

The prisoner exchange at that end pretty much erases Tarpal’s sacrifice. The Republic had Grievous and exchanged him for a lone Jedi Knight, costing them an opportunity to gain substantial ground at the expense of the Separatists. I’m not sure how the Jedi or the Senate would feel about Padme making that decision herself. And it seems more than a little out of character for Padme to give in to her feelings for Anakin at the cost of the war, which not long before she was risking her own life to try to stop (See the Senate Trilogy in the previous Walkthrough). Tarpals death also marks the death of a significant character from “The Phantom Menace” on the show.

This episode aired fourth in Season 4 , after the Mon Cala Trilogy, though the producers confirm it takes place before. It was apparently moved to give the season opener a more action-packed start. Since the end of the Senate Trilogy, this is the first episode aired out of sequence in a while.

MON CALA TRILOGY
Civil war breaks out the water world of Mon Cala, as the inhabitant races, the Mon Calamari and the Quarren, disagree on the coronation of a new Mon Cala king to rule them all. The would-be king, the young Prince Lee-Char, along with Padme, Anakin, Ahsoka, Kit Fisto, Rex, Cody, the 501st Legion and Captain Ackbar, try to stop a revolt by the Quarren, led by Separatist ambassador, Riff Tamson. The Mon Cala and Republic forces are overwhelmed and routed, and many are captured, interred and tortured. Boss Lyonie of Naboo sends an army of Gungans, the nearest force capable of underwater combat, to aide the Mon Cala, but the Separatists hold firm. Soon, though, the Quarren see that Separatist tactics of prisoner work camps, enslavement and torture are more than they bargained for. The Quarren align with the Republic forces and repel the Separatists, pledging allegiance to Lee-Char, who, after the Separatists are driven from Mon Cala and Tamson is killed, is crowned King.

Boss Lyonie pays back the debt he owes Padme and Jar Jar, from “Shadow Warrior” by sending his troops to aid Mon Cala. It would seem that, taking into account the earlier series Clone Wars, Mon Cala has had issues with Quarren uprisings before, also fuelled by the Separatists. At the start of the war, as shown in the traditionally-animated series, Kit Fisto and his troops had to quell a Quarren/Separatist revolt apparently smaller than the one featured in this arc. Captain Ackbar makes his first on-screen appearance chronologically in this arc.

DROIDS TWO-PARTER
In the first episode of this mini-arc, “Mercy Mission,” R2 and 3PO accompany the Wolfpack on a relief mission to the planet Aleen, which is suffering serious seismic events. The droids end up below the surface and following clues given by the underworld inhabitant, are able close a seal accidently opened. Closing it causes the underworld dwellers to stop the earthquakes and surface dwellers can live peacefully again. 3PO tries to explain all this to the clone troopers and they are more than a little sceptical of the droids adventure.

In the second episode, “Nomad Droids,” R2 and 3PO escape Adi Gallia’s cruiser as it’s attacked by Grievous and his droid army. The droids land their Y-wing first a planet inhabited by tiny people known as Patitites. After accidently crushing their tyrant leader, the droids leave the planet and the Patitites work out who will take over. They fly their Y-wing to another planet, Balnab, but after exposing that some pit droids are manipulating the locals, the droids power reserves run out. They’re picked up by Weequay pirates and reactivated. Before long, Grievous attacks the pirates and the droids flee to his ship, which is set upon by Republic forces who rescue Master Gallia (and the droids). 3PO tries to tell clone Commander Wolffe of their adventures and Wolffe, again, is sceptical.

This arc is certainly a homage to the ‘80s series Droids, which featured R2 and 3PO’s adventures between “Revenge Of The Sith” and “A New Hope.” It also takes story points from “Gulliver’s Travels” and “The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz” books.

Now six episodes into Season 4, this series of Walkthroughs will resume with the Umbara Tetrology. As always, I’m open to suggestions and alternate view points on the order of these episodes, which, aside from “Shadow Warrior,” appear to progress in straight line.

DUCHESS SATINE TRILOGY
Obi-Wan is sent to the neutral world of Mandalore, which is led by Duchess Satine Kryze. The official government is intent on staying out of the war and retaining its pacifistic ideology, despite a rebel faction known as Death Watch (supported by the Separatists) attempting to overthrow them and the Republic attempting to declare marshal law on the planet. Obi-Wan investigates and Death Watch is exposed, but still pose a serious threat. Satine, Obi-Wan and Anakin travel to Coruscant, but the assassination attempts continue before the Jedi can hunt down the perpetrator onboard. When they arrive, Satine must prove to the Senate that her planet can solve its own problems without Republic intervention, which she eventually does even as Death Watch hunts her. In light of this, Dooku withdraws his support of Death Watch and they are left with only their own resources.

This trilogy introduces Duchess Satine Kryze, who becomes a significant secondary character throughout the rest of the Clone Wars. Obi-Wan admits he would have left the Jedi Order for her when they knew each other years before, when he was a padawan under Qui-Gon Jinn. His feelings remain mostly unresolved at this point, which amuses Anakin to no end. Satine will be seen in later Senate and political episodes and will star in future arcs. We also meet Death Watch, a group of Mandalore “traditionalists” who sport the familiar armour of Jango Fett. They want to restore Mandalore and its people to the powerful, conquest-driven culture of the past.

Obi-Wan’s investigation in “The Mandalore Plot” later sees the planet adopt a “no weapons allowed” policy for visitors, which complicates things as the Jedi cannot carry their lightsabers there.

BOBA FETT TRILOGY
Young Boba Fett infiltrates a clone cadet squad in order to get close to Mace Windu in an attempt to exact revenge on him for killing his father, Jango. The attempts fail, but he succeeds in crashing their Star Destroyer and taking several hostages with the help of bounty hunters Aurra Sing, Bossk and Caastas. Mace and Anakin investigator the crashed Star Destroyer and are trapped by the bounty hunters. R2 is sent to get help and does so while thwarting the bounty hunters’ efforts to kill the Jedi. The droid brings reinforcements and saves the Jedi, but they are badly hurt and require rest. Ahsoka Tano and Plo Koon continue the investigation and try to hunt the bounty hunters down in order to save the hostages. The clone Ponds is executed by Sing before the Jedi track the hunters down. Ahsoka defeats Sing and forces her to crash Fett’s ship Slave 1, presumably killing her. The hostages are freed and Boba Fett and Bossk are arrested (Sing had already killed Caastas as a liability).

This is Boba Fett’s first appearance since “Attack Of The Clones.” As a clone himself, he easily fits in among the cadet squad. Despite failing to kill Windu, he demonstrates his skills as a bounty hunter, though clearly has a lot of learning to do. He wrestles with his conscience regularly and Sing leaving him to be captured doesn’t help him see which path is correct for him at this point.

Hondo Ahnaka reappears on the planet the bounty hunters hide out on with their hostages. In an admirable demonstration of honour (and self-preservation), Hondo refuses to get involved with the situation between the hunters and the Jedi and even stops one of his men from shooting Ahsoka in the back as she chases Sing. We discover he had a relationship with Sing in the past and knew Jango Fett personally, calling him an honourable man. It’s implied that Boba needs to learn a little of his father’s ethics if Fett is to survive.

Ahsoka’s actions in this and the coming arc also directly influence her development as a Jedi and are cited specifically by Yoda the upcoming episode “Assassin” as steps in her training, which helps place the sequence of these arcs. Like the Ryloth Heptalogy earlier in the Chronology, The Clone Wars series faces another possibly-confusing sequence of episodes written and aired out of chronological order, involving episodes from multiple seasons. As is my mission with the Chronology and the Walkthrough, I’ll try to clarify the proper order of events as best I can.

Moving on…

AHSOKA TANO ARC
Not a trilogy in the sense that this arc is one larger story, but the arc is important in two ways: it deals with Ahsoka’s continued development and training; and it, along with the earlier Boba Fett Trilogy and forthcoming Ziro The Hutt Tetralogy form a mostly unbroken sequence making up a larger story. Indeed, events in this arc also directly connect to several earlier events and we see the pay-off of previously established stories, characters and arcs.

First, we have “Sphere Of Influence,” where Baron Papanoida, the new Chairman of the Pantoran Assembly (for whom Ryo Chuchi is a Senator) has his daughters kidnapped by Separatists, who want to force him to sign a treaty with them via the Trade Federation. Investigating the kidnapping is Lt. Divo of Coruscant Security, but Ahsoka and Ryo decide to trackdown the Chairman’s daughters themselves. Meanwhile, the Chairman follows a clue that leads him to the actual kidnapper, up-and-coming bounty hunter Greedo. The daughters are freed and the Separatist plot is revealed, saving Pantora.

Next, in “Corruption,” Padme travels to Mandalore at the request of Duchess Satine and the two expose a black-market of supplies and profiteering at the expense of the safety of Mandalore citizens. Their efforts are successful, but prove that the corruption runs very deep. The story is followed up in “The Academy,” where Ahsoka is assigned to work in the Mandalore Academy in order to educate its students on politics and those who abuse it, and also to keep an eye out for nefarious goings-on. Her students take it upon themselves to follow their suspicions that the black-market extends to their school. They eventually uncover the Mandalore Prime Minister is involved and a coup is narrowly averted with Ahsoka’s help.

This arc establishes that after the visit by Obi-Wan in “The Mandalor Plot,” Mandalore has instituted its “No Weapons” policy for visitors. This means Ahsoka’s time on the planet was spent without her lightsaber, forcing her to use the Force and her wits, which turns out to be an important turn in her growth in the Force. In both “Sphere Of Influence” and “The Academy,” she successfully uses the Jedi mind-trick of impressing her will on others, as well as engaging in unarmed combat.

In this arc as well, Duchess Satine returns and things on Mandalore have hardly improved for her. She initially suspected the corruption to be the result of Death Watch, but even though that wasn’t the case, the real source was still as dangerous to her administration. Still, Satine is focused on peace and remaining neutral in the war.

Ahsoka’s efforts on Mandalore, in addition to her defeat of Aurra Sing, are cited directly by Yoda in the next arc as significant advances in her training, in the upcoming episode “Assassin.”

“Sphere Of Influence” also sees Papanoida visit the Mos Eisley Cantina (from “A New Hope”) and Jabba’s Palace, where he meets Jabba. Jabba’s son, kidnapped and rescued in The Movie, is at his father’s side. In the palace, in the background, are bounty hunters Embo and Sugi, last seen in “Bounty Hunters.” Also, Papanoida is the man who takes over the job of Chi Cho, the Chairman killed by the Talz back in “Trespass,” which was the first appearance of Ryo Chuchi.

ZIRO THE HUTT TRILOGY
“Assassin” begins with the aforementioned discussion with Yoda before the Jedi Council, of Ahsoka’s actions and the leaps she’s made in her training, specifically her time on Mandalore and her battle with Aurra Sing. Ahsoka later has visions of an assassination attempt on Padme by Sing and realizes that if the bounty hunter is still alive she’ll try to kill the senator. Ahsoka travels with Padme to Alderaan, where Padme is to speak before fellow politicians. The assassination is thwarted and Sing is captured, confirming that after her previous engagement with Ahsoka and the crashing of Slave 1, she was left for dead, but survived. Ahsoka also figures out the person who hired Sing was none other than Ziro The Hutt, who sought revenge for Padme’s involvement in his arrest and incarceration (events which happened in the Clone Wars Movie).

“Evil Plans” picks up on Coruscant with Padme hosting a diplomatic gathering and sending R2 and 3PO on an errand in the market. The droids are absconded by Cad Bane, who seeks plans for the Senate Building. He succeeds and wipes the droids’ memories of the droid-napping and they return to Padme and Anakin. With the plans, he delivers them to his clients, the heads of the Hutt Gangster Families, who then hire him to use the plans to break Ziro out of jail.

The Web Comic “By Invitation Only” shows Bane forming his team of bounty hunters and mercenaries in order to execute the break-out of Ziro The Hutt. Among the bounty hunters is Aurra Sing, who, off-screen, apparently escaped custody. This unseen event was apparently confirmed by Dave Filoni, so, while we may never see her escape, we safely know it happens.

“Hostage Crisis,” originally the Season 1 finale episode, shows Bane’s team breaking out Ziro by holding a group of Senators hostage. The bounty hunters and mercs are successful and only Anakin’s resourcefulness (he’s stuck in the Senate Building without his lightsaber…long story…) saves the hostages from being killed by Bane. Still, with Ziro free, Bane takes him to the Outer Rim.

The Web Comic “Hunting The Hunters I” picks up with Bane’s posse, under his orders, splitting up and going their separate ways. Shahan Alama, a former pirate of Hondo’s crew, flees to Floruum, where he is pursued by Republic forces and is captured by Hondo, who plans to ransom him to the Republic.

“The Hunt For Ziro” has Bane bring Ziro to the Five Hutt Families, who want information he has that could prove inciminating for them. Ziro has it hidden and the Hutts lock him up. He’s freed by former lover Sy Snoodles, who joins him on his trip to retrieve the information. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan and Jedi Master Quinlan Voss pursue Bane and Ziro, always a step behind the bounty hunter. Ziro and Sy retrieve the information and a spurned Sy kills Ziro on the spot. Bane arrives too late, as do the Jedi and the two try to take the bounty hunter into custody for the Senate hostage incident, but he escapes. Sy sells the information to the Hutt Families and the Jedi are left with nothing.

The Web Comic “Hunting The Hunters III” sees Obi-Wan and Anakin return to Iego in pursuit of the assassin droid Helios-3D, part of Bane’s posse from the hostage crisis. There, Jaybo informs them that the Separatist booby trap they supposedly disarmed is active again and heir investigation shows it is 3D controlling it. The droid flees when discovered. Jaybo and Iego were previously seen in “Mystery Of A Thousand Moons.”

Of interest in this arc also is that episode “Assassin” features another encounter between Ahsoka and Jocasta Nu, the Jedi Librarian. They previously met for the first time in “The Holocron Heist” and subsequently in “Lightsaber Lost.”

SENATE TRILOGY
This arc is also subject to some otherwise confusing out-of-sequence storytelling, as the last part was told halfway through Season 2 and the first two part weren’t told until mid-way through Season 3, resulting in the fact that every episode aired after “Senate Murders” technically should have preceded it (nearly an entire season’s worth of episodes). This was even confirmed on a (now defunct) page of StarWars.com by the producers, that, at the time of airing until the broadcast of the Season 3 episode “Nightsisters,” the episode “Senate Murders” was the chronology last episode seen thus far. “Nightsisters” and the episodes aired after resume the correct, liner advancement of the story (until, at least, the end of Season 4, the time of this Walkthrough’s writing).

So, beginning with “Heroes On Both Sides,” Ahsoka, now visibly aged since we last saw her last appearance in “Assassin,” is sent by Anakin to join Padme on her covert quest to make contact with an old friend, now a Separatist, in an attempt to see if the Separatists are open to peace talks. Her friend, Mina Bonteri, is open to proposing the idea to the Separatist Council and does so. Ahsoka meets Bonteri’s son, Lux, who lost his father to a battle early in the war. Lux resents the Republic for this loss, but seems to develop feelings for Ahsoka. Ahsoka takes some interest in him, as well. Padme and Ahsoka return to the Republic and try to convince Palpatine and the Senate to listen to the Separatists’ call for peace talks. The effort is undermined first by the news that Mina Bonteri has been killed, supposedly by Republic agents, and by Grievous’ bombing of Coruscant, which throws discussion of peace talks into chaos. Attacks on senators also complicate matters, as many are threatened into siding with the Bill to prolong the war. Bounty Hunter Robonino is found to be one of the thugs threatening the politicians. He his captured, but seen to have escaped in the Web Comic “Hunting The Hunters II,” where he has fled to Rodia, only to be caught again by Kit Fisto and Onacondo Farr. Padme persists and a vote is proposed, which would de-regulate the banks and prolong the war. Padme tries to rally fellow Senators to the cause of opposing the bill and pursuing peace, but before it can be called, Padme’s close friend, Senator Onacondo Farr (previously seen joining the Republic in “Bombad Jedi”) in murdered. The investigation by Lt. Divo (previously seen in “Sphere Of Influence) eventually uncovers that Farr’s aide murdered him. Padme is later informed that the vote to deregulate the banks went through in her absence and the war will continue.

“Heroes On Both Sides” also introduces the New Look for most of the characters, where their character models were updated. Ahsoka benefits the most from this, where she is visibly aged about 2 years, looking more grown up and not so child-like. Her previous outfit of a tube-top and mini-skirt are replaced with a more mature, classy costume. She also wields a yellow shoto (short lightsaber) in addition to her standard green lightsaber, so she’s packing twice the heat now and is twice as dangerous. Obi-Wan and Ankin get make-overs too, though not so drastic. They lose the battle armour and look closer to their “Revenger Of The Sith” appearances. The models for the characters also feature more facial expressions and dynamic details in hair and clothing. Overall, the upgrade improves what was already pretty good CG animation. It’s interesting to note that the New Look does not create a continuity issue with “Senate Murders” (a pre-New Look episode which takes place after the New Look’s introduction, as, conveniently, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan and Anakin do not appear in “Senate Murders” at all. That’s attention to detail worth complimenting. Nice going, TCW producers!

In addition to the introduction of Lux Bonteri, this trilogy sees the appearance of pretty much all the political characters established by this point, including Padme, Farr, Satine, Ryo, Mon Mothma, Bail Organa and many others. It also lays the foundation for upcoming events in the war, which we will explore in the next Walkthroughs. The most confusing sequences, where episodes from multiple seasons make up correctly aligned arcs, is past (for the foreseeable future, at least…the series isn’t over, so anything can change).

We’ve also reached the last of the online Web Comics which tie directly into episodes. I’ll reiterate that originally many of the Web Comics were meant to tie directly into their partner episodes, but as the series advanced and sequel or prequel episodes and arcs developed, the strict adherence to matching a comic with its episode was no longer a priority in light of maintaining clarity. As such, the web comics were placed in chronological order, as were the episodes, meaning the direct connections were no longer as direct. And it doesn’t make life easier for newcomers to the series reading this that the Web Comics are no longer posted on StarWars.com, so I tried to highlight the relevant details seen in those issues so as to explain their connections to the surrounding episodes.

We will pick up with Part 4 of the Walkthrough shortly. For now, if you have any questions, concerns or alternate points of view on the sequence of episodes, feel free to speak up. I’m open to discussion.

Welcome to the second part of my Walkthrough of the Tv series The Clone Wars, where I explain my Chronology. If you have not yet read the Chronology nor the Walkthrough Part 1, I encourage you to do so. Follow the “Star Wars” link above or look through my Archive link to the right.

HONDO 2-PARTER

In the Web Comic “Bait,” Anakin allows himself to be captured by Dooku. The next episode, “Dooku Captured,” sees Obi-Wan spring the trap by freeing Anakin and attempting to capture Dooku. The plan fails and Dooku flees to a planet where he is caught by pirates led by Hondo Ohnaka. Anakin and Obi-Wan follow and the episode ends with Hondo inviting them to have a drink and to discuss surrendering Dooku to the Republic. The Web Comic “Switch” sees Hondo’s efforts to drug the Jedi. He eventually succeeds. The episode “The Gungan General” sees the Jedi awake in custody with Dooku. The three attempt to escape Hondo’s pirates as Hondo sets a trap for the Republic forces arriving to take Dooku. Jar Jar is forced to lead the clones when the negotiator is killed and as his team overpowers the pirates, the Jedi and Dooku make their escape. Dooku flees and the Jedi let Hondo go, as they don’t hold grudges.

This short arc introduces Hondo and his pirates, who return throughout the series. Hondo proves to be one of the most interesting secondary characters in the series. Though he is sometime the antagonist, Hondo is not really a villain in the series, per se, more like a neutral force working to his own ends, on neither side of the war unless he sees profit in it, though his actions are tempered by a certain sense of honour. And he’s entertaining as heck!

AAYLA SECURA 2-PARTER
The Web Comic “Headgames” shows Secura and her clone troopers assaulting a Separatist base just before the events of the next episode. In that episode, “Jedi Crash,” Anakin, Ahsoka, Secura and her clones crash on a planet after a space battle and Anakin is seriously hurt. The Jedi find a colony of pacifists who have fled the war and Anakin is healed. The Web Comic “Neighbours” explores the ideology of the colonists and features Secura discussing them with their leader. “Defenders Of The Peace” sees a droid army arrive on the planet and use it to test an organic-killing weapon. The Jedi and clones have to defend the colony and defeat the droids.

This arc is a showcase for Aayla Secura and her clone troopers. Secura was last seen in the Zillo Beast arc, fighting the beast alongside Yoda. Her relationship with her clone troopers comes to a head in “Revenge Of The Sith” with Order 66.

The next segment is a stand-alone story starting with the Web Comic “Cold Snap,” which tells of a Republic outpost in an ice moon overrun by unseen creatures. “Trespass” picks up with Anakin, Obi-Wan and their clone troopers investigating what happened to the outpost. They are joined by Riyo Chuchi and a team of delegates from the planet on whose moon the outpost resides. The creatures responsible for the attack are Talz and they don’t take kindly to the delegation demanding they leave. A brief conflict breaks out before Riyo Chuchi makes peace after the death of the head of the delegation.

Though a single story in itself, it introduces Riyo Chuchi and her people, who become recurring political characters later in the series. Also, the death of the head delegate creates a void filled later. R2 and 3PO are briefly reunited for this mission, as well.

VIRUS 2-PARTER
In the Web Comic “The Valley” droids are spotted and destroyed on Naboo, prompting an investigation into their presence. The episode “Blue Shadow Virus” have Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan and their clone troopers arrive on Naboo with Padme Amidala to investigate the droids. They discover a mad scientist working in a hidden lab to unleash the Blue Shadow Virus. His efforts are seemingly thwarted, but a single vial is snatched by a droid and Ahsoka, Padme and the clones are infected. To find a cure, Anakin and Obi-Wan go to the moons of Iago to find the only known cure. There they meet a group of trapped spacers and find an old Separatist booby trap which prevents anyone leaving. They meet a young mechanic named Jaybo who helps them disarm the booby trap and escape. Once free, they return to Naboo with the cure and save everyone infected.

The Virus arc aired as a one-hour special on TV, and as such the second episode, “Mystery Of A Thousand Moons,” had no accompanying Web Comic. Otherwise, each first season episode had a 6 page comic that appeared on the Official Star Wars website, Sadly, they’re no longer available on the site and George only knows if they’ll get issued in print ever. It’s a shame, really, since they are in many ways the key to understanding the proper sequence of the war and the episodes, even though they no longer strictly align with their original partner episodes. I don’t consider that a problem because the story is the most important thing, not the Season number, Episode number or Web Comic number.

THE BATTLE OF RYLOTH TRILOGY

After much planning, the Republic assault to retake Ryloth goes more or less as planned. It covers three episodes, each depicting a stage of the assault. “Storm Over Ryloth” has the Republic breakthrough the orbital blockade, “Innocents Of Ryloth” shows the advancement of the ground forces and two clones, Waxer and Boil, reunite Numa with her parents, The Web Comic, “The Ballad Of Cham Sundula,” recounts a victory for the Twilek Resistance during the Separatist occupation before and “Liberty Of Ryloth” has Watt Tambor’s forces finally overrun.

Later in the series, both Waxer and Boil’s helmets are seen sporting a little drawing of the Twilek, Numa. The Twilek resistance seen earlier in “Supply Lines” helps in the liberation of their planet. We also meet the clone Ponds again.

Next is another seemingly stand-alone episode, “Bounty Hunters.” In it, Anakin, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan travel to Felucia to investigate why a medical station in orbit has lost contact. They arrive to find the med station gone and vulture droids in orbit instead. The droids attack and the Jedi crash on the planet. There, they befriend farmers under threat from Hondo and his pirates. In this homage to “The Seven Samurai” (and “The Magnificent Seven”) , the Jedi team up with four bounty hunters to defend the farmers. The bounty hunters (Sugi, Embo, Rumi and Seripas) lose one of their number (Rumi) and the Hondo leaves when he realizes the planet is no longer profitable.

The placement of this episode is significant because Felucia is a major battleground from this point on through to Order 66 in “Revenge Of The Sith.” Here, we see how it started, with the droid destruction of the medical base. On the surface, Republic and Separatist forces have not yet begun to fight.

The return of Hondo is significant, as is the introduction of the bounty hunters. This is the first meeting between Ahsoka and Hondo and later events reflect this (we’ll get to those later).

CAD BANE TRILOGY
“Holocron Heist” opens with a battle raging on Felucia. The Jedi and clones have to pull out before being overrun and Ahsoka does so reluctantly, which brings disciplinary action from the Jedi Council. She is assigned to the Jedi Archive under Jocasta Nu, whom she meets for the first time. Meanwhile, bounty hunter Cad Bane is hired by Darth Sidious to steal a Jedi holocron from the Archives. He recruits a shape-shifter who disguises herself as a Jedi and they break into the Jedi Temple. After the shape-shifter is revealed and captured, the Jedi learn that Bane has stolen a holocron and plans to kidnap another Jedi Master, Bolla Ropal, who is out of touch in the Outer Rim. The first three parts of the Web Comic “Act On Instinct” tell the story of Ropal’s kidnapping by Bane and Aura Sing. His apprentice, Tyzen Xebec, is left alone with their clone commander Ganch.

Ropal’s story is picked up immediately with the arrival of Anakin, Ahsoka and their fleet to the rescue. What’s interesting about their arrival is that a scene from the Web Comic is depicted in the episode “Cargo Of Doom” exactly, showing us the precise positioning of the events of the comic and the episodes.

Ropal is killed before the Jedi can save him and after much cat and mouse chasing, Bane is able to escape and go after the Jedi children with information taken from the Jedi crystal in Ropal’s possession paired with the earlier stolen holocron. The Jedi catch him and learn of Sidious’s facility on Mustaphar, where the kidnapped Jedi babies are being held. The facility is destroyed and the children saved.

Web Comic “Act On Instinct” Part 4 shows us Mace Windu informing Tyzen that his master, Ropal, has been killed. Ahsoka tries to comfort the Padawan, but he left despondent.

This arc provides specific clues as to its placement in the chronology. First, Ahsoka meets Jocasta Nu for the first time. They run into each other several times later, but this is specifically established as their first encounter. Secondly, the duplication of the scene in both the episode and the Web Comic positions all the events accordingly. Though Bane appeared in the last episode of Season 1, that episode, we learn later, takes place MUCH later than that and this is chronologically his first appearance.

On a side note, Bane’s droid, Todo 360, is seen to be destroyed in “Holocron Heist”. Dave Filoni has explained on the SW website that the droid was, offscreen, rebuilt and escaped. This is never seen, but the droid appears later at Bane’s side, so this becomes a case of having to take the creator’s word for it.

GEONOSIS PENTALOGY

The Republic discovers a spy in the Senate, a former friend (Rush Clovis) of Padme’s and she’s sent to look into it, with Anakin as her undercover protection. They discover plans for a droid factory on Geonosis and that information leads them to mount an assault on the planet. The invasion of Geronosis is intense and deadly, with many clones killed and many Jedi injured. Eventually, Poggle The Lesser is captured and the Geonosian Queen is buried alive underground. Her parasitic worms survive and infest the transport leaving Geonosis and heading for a medical base. Ahsoka and fellow Padawan Bariss Offee are aboard and Offee is infected before Ahsoka learns that freezing the ship will neutralize the parasites. Ahsoka, Offee and most of the infected clones survive, barely.

In this arc we meet Luminara Unduli again and her Padawan, Bariss Offee, as well as the clones Trapper, Waxer and Boil. Waxer and Boil’s helmets now sport a little drawing of the Tylek girl Numa, whom they met while liberating Ryloth. Poggle The Lesser is captured here, which is key to later events (I’ll explain when we get there). The battle between the Padawans and the parasites leaves them gravely injured, which is also important to a specific moment coming in the next arc. This is also the first appearance of Rush Clovis, whose fate looks dire when left to Trade Federation after his job as a spy is compromised.

GRIEVOUS ARC
General Grievous kidnaps Jedi Master Eeth Koth and sends a holo-message to the Jedi with demands. The Jedi mount a rescue effort and nearly capture Grievous. He escapes to a planet and the Jedi and clones follow. There, Captain Rex meets a clone deserter and his family. The droids attack Rex and the deserter, Cut Laquane, defend their farm. Rex decides not to turn Cut in and returns to his unit as Grievous escapes again.

Not long after, Ahsoka’s lightsaber is stolen while she is on an investigation in the lower Coruscant. She meets an elderly Jedi Master, Tera Sinube, who helps her hunt down the thieves and recover the lightsaber.

This is called the Grievous Arc instead of the Grievous Trilogy because the general is only in the first two parts. However, the third part is still directly connected to the other two in a very specific way. In “Grievous Intrigue,” when Grievous sends the message to the Jedi about the kidnapping of Koth, everyone present represents almost all the main and secondary protagonists in the series. It is a veritable who’s who of Jedi and clones. More importantly, this scene introduces us to Tera Sinube and a group of Jedi younglings later seen in “Lightsaber Lost.” Not only that, Jedi who will not appear significantly until later in the war are also present. I consider this a lynch-pin scene, anchoring the earlier events with the episodes to come. It may seem to be overstating the importance of a bunch of non-speaking Jedi standing around the room, but pause the scene and look at every character there. ALL of them have been featured or will be featured later. Lastly, this scene starts with Ahsoka and Offee walking into the meeting together, having just recovered from their injuries at the end of the Geonosis arc.

Additionally, Ahsoka goes to the Archive to ask Jocasta Nu for help finding her lightsaber, placing this episode after their initial meeting in the Cad Bane Trilogy.

The Web Comics “Act On Instinct” Parts 5 to 12 and “The Valsedian Operation” Parts 1 to 12 also pick up Tyzen and Commander Ganch’s story. Sadly, after “Valsedian Operation,” the two are not seen again (yet), as SW stopped production of the Web Comic beginning with Season 4. The Web Comics I’ll refer to later were all released before Season 3, though they take place later in the timeline.

This is as good a place as any to pause before I do Part 3 and Part 4 of the Walkthrough. I know each time I’m leaving a few threads dangling, but when the Walkthroughs are complete, you’ll see how they fit together. And I’ll remind you as I go of earlier connections and how what came before affects what happens later.

I hope these are proving useful to everyone. I encourage feedback and your thoughts.

As promised, here is Part 1 of my walkthrough of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars Chronology (9th Edition), which explains the connections between the episode and addresses why I placed them in this order [click the Star Wars link above the find the Chronology itself if you haven’t read it already]. In advance, I’ll say that not every argument is 100% airtight. Some of it is subjective, based on my observations and what I feel works best. It’s certainly up for debate and I encourage other theories. It’s been said that Leland Chee will address the proper order of the series when the series is finished, so when that happens, I may be proven wrong, but based on current viewings of the aired episodes to this point (little past halfway through Season 4), here’s my take. I hope it proves useful.

I’ll actually begin before The Clone Wars proper, with the original micro-series title Clone Wars, the traditionally animated series which was launched between the films “Attack Of The Clones” and “Revenge Of The Sith.” I won’t breakdown each installment, but it’s important to address here since this series introduced us to many of the characters we’d see in the later CG series.

In Clone Wars, we pick up just after the war has begun. The battle lines are being drawn and the droid armies of the Separatists are combating the Grand Army of the Republic, which is mostly comprised of clone troopers led by the Jedi. Count Dooku (aka Darth Tyrannus) recruits a young Force adept named Assaj Ventress, whom he sends to assassinate Anakin Skywalker. They battle on Yavin IV, the moon which much later houses a secret Rebel base in “A New Hope.” Ventress is defeated and Anakin returns to his master’s side just as Obi-Wan Kenobi receives a distress call from fellow Jedi trapped and surrounded by droid armies. What makes this battle different is the introduction of a new droid general, Grievous, who slaughters nearly all of the Jedi before they are rescued by clone commandos. The survivors are Ki-adi Mundi, Aayla Secura and Shaak Ti. After the rescue, Anakin discovers that his wife, Senator Padme Amidala, has fitted C-3PO with gold plating. The Jedi officially Knight Anakin Skywalker and as a gift, he’s given Padme’s droid, R2-D2. He then leaves Curuscant to continue as a General in the Clone Wars.

This is where we pick up, seemingly not long after, in The Clone Wars.

ROOKIES TRILOGY
Shaak Ti, having recovered from her battle with General Grievous, is now leading the training of clone cadets on Kamino. Here we meet Domino Squad, a group of five misfit clones who are doomed to scrub freighters if they flunk out. Eventually, through perseverance and self-discovery, they learn to work together and graduate with Shaak Ti’s blessing, demonstrating a high degree of independent thinking and problem-solving.

In the Web Comic “Mouse Hunt,” we see clones Commander Cody and Captain Rex inspecting a facility where a mouse droid has been secretly spying for the Separatists. The droid is destroyed and Rex and Cody go off to their next inspection site: a Republic Listening Post which serves as an early warning beacon for Kamino.

Domino Squad is stationed there on their first assignment when it is attacked by droids. Three of the original five members (Echo, Fives and Hevy) meet up with Rex and Cody as they arrive to inspect the station and Hevy sacrifices himself to destroy the station, alerting the Republic that Kamino is about to be attacked by Grievous and Ventress. Echo and Fives join Rex and Cody’s 501st Legion and the Republic fleet travels to Kamino to mount a defence.

The Battle of Kamino commences, with Anakin and Ventress crossing blades again and Obi-Wan duels Grievous. The Separatists are eventually pushed back and flee, and Echo and Fives are promoted to ARC Trooper trainees.

At Kamino we see several then-experimental ARC fighters, as the Republic begins creating new weaponry with which to fight the war. Ventress and Grievous meet for the first time here as well. We meet Admiral Yularen for the first time, seemingly having recently joined Anakin as his fleet commander.

ZILLO BEAST 2 PARTER
On Malastare, Anakin and Mace Windu attempt to persuade the Duggs to sign a treaty with the Republic so the Republic can gain the planet’s fuel supply. We meet clones Hawkeye, Trapper and Ponds, but Hawkeye is killed when a giant Zillo Beast is unleashed by the test of an experimental droid-neutralizing bomb. The bomb is delivered by equally experimental Y-Wing and ARC fighters. The Zillo Beast is subdued and brought to Coruscant, where it escapes and wreaks havoc, before being put down by poisonous gas. Aayla Secura and Yoda combat the beast, and R2-D2 and C-3PO are briefly reunited.

At the end of the second part, Chancellor Palpatine orders the beast be cloned.

CHRISTOPHSIS + MOVIE
The planet Christophsis is under siege and Obi-Wan, Anakin and Yularen have to find a way through. They do so with the help of a stealth ship and Yularen’s experience against the Separatist commander. They are able to deliver aid to Senator Bail Organa on the planet before the Separatists remount an offensive there. The Web Comic “Shadowed” hints that there is something amiss in the ranks of the clones troopers on the planet and this is verified after an ambush overtakes the clones and Jedi, who barely escape. As Rex and Cody hunt for the spy, Obi-Wan and Anakin attempt to track the signals the spy sent, which leads them to Ventress. The duel is cut short and Ventress leaves the planet to execute the next part of Dooku’s plan as the clones and Jedi prepare for a major assault.

The Movie begins after Ventress kidnaps Jabba The Hutt’s son, part of the plan to get the Hutts on the Separatist’s side. On Christophsis, a break in the fighting allows Anakin’s new Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, to join her master (and to join the series). Christophsis is liberated and Anakin and Ahsoka hunt down Jabba’s son. Obi-Wan tries to negotiate with Jabba and Padme reveals that Jabba’s uncle Ziro The Hutt is working with Dooku in the kidnapping plot. Jabba’s son is saved and Ziro is arrested.

Ahsoka and Ventress battle for the first time and Anakin and Dooku meet again in a lightsaber battle. Originally, the movie was four regular episodes, but George Lucas decided to have the producers edit them together to release as a movie.

THE FALL OF RYLOTH TETRALOGY
This was the most interesting part of the series to fit together, because it was told over three seasons and several Web Comics. Each new segment required a re-examining of the sequence of events, until it could be clearly aligned. The order of release of the individual parts had to be virtually ignored in favour of the pure chronological order.

Furthermore, this arc begins a massive mega-arc, which interconnects numerous episodes after the events of the Fall Of Ryloth itself, but we’ll get to that.

Beginning with the Web Comic “The Fall Of Falleen,” we see the Separatists overtake the world of Falleen. This is mentioned by the characters at the beginning of “Downfall of a Droid,” where R2 is lost after an attack by General Grievous is repelled. R2 is picked up by a salvager who plans to sell him to Grievous. In the next Web Comic, “Discount,” Separatist Gha Nachkt is sold a droid by the same salvager, who still possesses R2, and it turns out the droid Nachkt buys is a spy for rival Separatist Watt Tambor. In the Web Comic “Covetous,” the spy droid sends its information to Tambor, that of the doings of Nachkt on Ryloth. Tambor launches his invasion of Ryloth, which is seen in the next Web Comic “Curfew,” where we also meet the now-orphaned Twilek girl, Numa, on Ryloth.

In “Supply Lines,” following the invasion of Ryloth, the Republic tries to send relief aid by way of the Toydaria. We meet King Katuunko, who makes a deal with Bail Organa and Jar Jar Binks to allow their ships through against the trade agreements the planet hold with the Trade Federation. The ships get through as the last Jedi and clones on Ryloth are killed defending the Twileks and a small group of Twilek resistance fighters. The King tells Organa he’ll meet with Yoda to discuss a treaty with the Republic. In the Web Comic “Prelude,” we see the King on his way to the meet Yoda. We also see some of Yoda’s clone troopers waiting to depart for their next assignment. As they wait, they see the Republic Star Destroyer Ares leave in search of a new Separatist threat: something that’s destroying whole Republic fleets without leaving survivors. We also see Dooku and Ventress on a Separatist Listening Post called Skytop station. Dooku orders Ventress to stop the meeting between Yoda and King Katuunko.

“Ambush” sees Yoda and his clones, well, ambushed by Ventress. She meets the King and attempts to negotiate a deal between Toydaria and the Separatists, but Yoda eventually pushes through the traps and terrain. Ventress is sent back to Dooku empty-handed and Toydaria agrees to let the Republic use its planet to launch a campaign to retake Ryloth.

In “Duel Of The Droids,” Anakin tracks down R2 at Skytop Station and destroys it, saving R2 in the process and crippling the Separatist’s ability to use their secret weapon to sneak up on Republic fleets as effectively.

With Toydaria aligned with the Republic, the Jedi and the Republic fleet are now in a position to effectively plan an assault to retake Ryloth. It appears that the complexity of the eventual multi-stage attack requires lengthy organization of strategy, personnel and resources, which is why the battle itself does not take place until later in the first season (see Walkthrough – Part 2).

MALEVOLENCE TRILOGY
As noted above, the Ryloth, Malevolence and Nute Gunray arcs could really be considered one giant, continuous story, since there is no break in the action and the stories flow deliberately and directly from one to the other.

After the liberation of Ryloth, the Web Comic “Shakedown,” picks up with the maiden voyage of the Star Destroyer Ares. No sooner has it begun to hunt for the secret Separatist weapon than that weapon overtakes and destroys it. Shortly after, Jedi Master Plo Koon and his troops are beset upon by the same weapon, a Separatist ship called Malevolence, which destroyers ships with a massive ion cannon. Survivors are hunted down in the debris. Plo and clones Wolffe, Sinker and Boost launch an escape pod but the droids find them and nearly kill them. They are rescued by Anakin and Ahsoka and become the first surviving witnesses to Grievous’s new weapon.

Anakin and Ahsoka then commandeer the experimental Y-Wings in the Web Comic “Procedure” in order to mount an offensive against Malevolence. They do so, crippling the Separatist ship. Meanwhile, Chancellor Palpatine and Capt. Argyus inform Padme that some Separatists want to talk peace and have sent coordinates to meet her (Web Comic “Agenda”). We also meet Onacondo Farr of Rodia, a friend of Padme, who has just signed a treaty with Nute Gunray. Padme arrives in the middle of the firefighter between the Republic and Malevolence, and she and 3PO are taken prisoner. Anakin and Obi-Wan board Malevolence and rescue the two before the vessel is destroyed. Grievous flees in his fighter.

Here, R2 and 3PO meet again, as do Grievous and Obi-Wan. Anakin cannot meet Grievous during the Clone Wars, since he states explicitly that “Revenge Of The Sith” is their first meeting.

NUTE GUNARY TRILOGY
In the Web Comic “Departure,” Jar Jar prepares the Naboo ship to head to Rodia, but it is stolen by thieves. He and Padme are forced to take a different ship, which they do, arriving on Rodia only to find out Farr has aligned with the Separatists. He’s eventually convinced to change his mind and Nute Gunray is captured. In the Web Comic “Transfer,” Capt Argyus, Ahsoka and Luminara Undulii take Gunary aboard their ship.
The episode that follows shows Ventress and Argyus breaking Gunray out of custody and escaping, after Ventress duels both Ahsoka and Luminara.

In the Web Comic “The Dreams Of General Grievous,” we see Grievous in flight from the lost battle of the Malevolence and his thoughts about how he was made into a cyborg.

Kit Fisto and his clones make their way to a secret location, on the trail of Nute Gunray. They discover it is the Lair of General Grievous and Dooku has trapped them all, hoping Grievous can prove himself after all his recent failures (failing to take Kamino and losing Skytop Station and the Malevolence). Grievous kills everyone but Fisto, including Fisto’s hot-headed former Padawan. Fisto escapes and Grievous again has proven his worth to Dooku.

As the “Ryloth,” “Malevolence” and “Nute Gunray” arcs are all interwoven and ,as I said, continue seamlessly from one to the next without any story breaks, they really do serve to create a mega-arc early in the series, with all those episodes and Web Comics fully connected to each other.

To be explored in future Walkthroughs will be plot points and characters established both in these early episodes and episodes yet-discussed, which continue to weave through the series even now.

It’s important to see that The Clone Wars is not merely a “weekly adventures of…”-type of series, but a grand, interwoven story, where characters and plots interact and actions have consequences. What happens early on affects what happens later, and what happens later is a direct and/or indirect result of what came before. That is one of the real strengths of The Clone Wars, and one of the rewards of paying close attention.

[Update 27/10/12: I now consider this edition out-of-date. The current 9th Edition can be found here. I’m keeping this edition posted as an historical reference, for those curious about the differences between editions and how I develop each Chronology. -PL]

The first seven editions of this chronology appeared on the imdb.com message board of Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series. At the moment, only the 7th Edition survives, as the Internet Movie Database has undertaken to delete inactive threads of a certain age. With the 8th Edition now issued, I image the defunct 7th will vanish before long. The earliest editions featured many changes between each, since, as episodes came out, the proper chronological order became more clear. Each time more clues were revealed and as I did more research, I refined the timeline.

Before you ask, “Wait, why does this episode go here rather than there?” know that in a future post, I’ll provide a walk through of the Chronology, wherein I’ll point out the details in the episodes and arcs that connect them to each other. I’m open to other thoughts as to how better they may fit together and to details I may have overlooked.

Also, there may come future episodes where information gained forces me to alter the chronological placement of some of the episodes, at which time I’ll update the Chronology again. For now, it seems, the series is advancing in a direct linear fashion, rather than its previous method of bouncing back and forth between the timeline.

Enjoy!

[Update: 02/08/12 It was brought to my attention that StarWars.com specifically cites the Season 4 of The Clone Wars episode “Shadow Warrior” has taking place BEFORE the Mon Cala Trilogy. Their explanation and evidence supports this, so the next edition will be revised to reflect it. Please take note.]

In case you’re not aware, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a TV series, which launched with a theatrically released film. It is CGI and tells of the events of the Clone Wars mostly through the adventures of Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin’s apprentice, the young Ahsoka Tano. Featured throughout are the titular clones, an army grown for the Republic, under the leadership of Skywalker, Kenobi and the other Jedi Generals. They are battling the Confederation of Separatist Systems, who send waves of droids into combat against the clones and our Jedi heroes. The story is set between the mainstream theatrical films Star Wars – Episode II: “Attack Of The Clones” and Star Wars – Episode III: “Revenge Of The Sith.” It also takes place during the abbreviated events of the earlier micro-series Star Wars: Clone Wars (note the lack of The in the title), which was traditionally animated and was done as a sort of warm up to the larger-scale TV series.

I’ve come to love this series.

I remember when I saw the first trailer for The Clone Wars Movie I was intrigued. My only concern was how it fit in with the earlier animated Clone Wars micro-series.

When the negative reviews started pouring condemning the “Saturday morning cartoon” feel, not so epic plot and Jabba’s “Truman Capote” uncle, I decided, “Well, I guess I’ll by-pass this detour in the Star Wars Universe.” I’ve never been one to pronounce the Star Wars universe destroyed just because an installment was either poorly executed or badly received. Keep in mind, I like the Prequels. Yes, they’re flawed in places, but not nearly as badly as a lot of people gripe about.

I really wasn’t thinking about The Clone Wars after it left the theatres quickly, until Teletoon (Canada’s answer to The Cartoon Network) aired a marathon of Season 1 episodes of The Clone Wars. I decided to take a chance and see for myself if the series was as bad as people said the movie was.

I watched “Innocents Of Ryloth” and “Liberty Of Ryloth,” and was really impressed. Waxer and Boil’s encounter with Numa hooked me and after those two episodes I decided I wanted to see the Movie and the rest of Season 1. I went out and bought the DVD of the Movie and when the Season 1 DVD set came out, I got it for Christmas.

I could see where the complaints came from in the Movie, but I think the biggest problem it suffers from is not having been intended to be a movie. It’s basically 4 episodes edited together. If they’d aired as normal episodes, or even as a TV movie, no one would have complained. Putting them on the big screen forced the world to think “George has really lost it now! This isn’t even a movie!” Now that we’re into the 4th Season, I think the fairest way to view it is as part of the TV series, not meant to be on par with the actual theatrical Trilogies.

The three and a half seasons we’ve seen so far are great. You mileage may vary, but overall, the series has given us some great episodes. Sure, there may be a few less interesting ones, and perhaps one or two stinkers, but that’s true of any series. To expect everything related to a franchise to be pure gold all the time is to always set yourself up for disappointment. I can’t think of any TV show I’ve ever watched that didn’t have at least a few iffy episodes throughout. If I’m watching one that I think is just not working, I try to at least see what the producers and writers were trying to do. No one goes into it thinking, “Yeah, I’m going to make the worst episode ever!” Did a character not work? Did the idea get muddied or was it not thought out fully? Maybe the writer didn’t do research. In any event, the series is not dead because the episode is bad. Just move on to the next one.

There was a lull in the action during Season 3 and I think a lot of people pronounced the series had lost its way and just become boring. This was the point in the series where the producers had to accomplish two things: a) tie up loose threads still floating around and b) set up upcoming story arcs for the next few seasons. The Anthology nature of the series allows the producers to jump around in the series’ timeline and this was no more evident than during Season 3. The first half was all over the timeline, with episodes being prequels to earlier episodes, sequels to earlier episode and all up to this point taking place before a specific Season 2 episode “Senate Murders” (making them all technically prequels in one form or another). If that wasn’t enough to confuse the viewers, the sudden lack of front-line action being replaced with politics-heavy stories threw a lot of people for a loop. Maybe the powers-that-be could have handled that stretch of episodes better. Maybe not. We’re getting the pay off from those stories now and in the future, so a few slower moving episodes at the time seems a fair price to me.

This brings me to my next point: the chronological order. The first two and a half seasons were, indeed, all over the timeline. I put together a Chronology to help fellow viewers put the pieces in place. I recently took some time watch the series in that order and it works extremely well. Flipping back and forth between discs can get annoying, but story-wise the whole series fits together beautifully. Small arcs connect with each other and form large macro-arcs. Characters and plots weave in and out. Themes and character development is soundly constructed. Ahsoka Tano, in particular, matures as the series progresses. Actions have consequences for the overall story. There is no Reset button here, forcing nothing to change and grow.

The second half of Season 3 and the first half of Season 4 present us with a much more linear story. For the time being, this appears to be the direction of the series, no longer bouncing between the past and present. I’m a little disappointed by that, mostly because I’d accepted the challenge of deciphering where the episodes fit together. And it was fun doing so. In no longer presenting the stories out of chronological sequence, maintaining the Chronology is less urgent. Still, I will update it from time to time.

Outside the series proper, I greatly enjoyed the Web Comics which were available in the official Star Wars site for the first three seasons. Sadly, Season 4 brought a revamp to the site and all the Web Comics are gone. A lot were integral to determining the order of events in the series and as supplements to the episodes, they were great. If LucasArts decides to publish the Web Comics in print, it would be a much appreciated move. Gone, too, are the Season 1 to 3 behind-the-scenes documentaries and they’ve discontinued the practice in Season 4. Also, they aren’t publishing their trivia and notes for each new episode, which is a loss to those of us fascinated by the little details and what goes on in the writing and designing stages.

Season 4 is perhaps the best looking of the seasons. The updated character models (introduced mid-way through Season 3) and animation are superb. The stories are following the logical progression from what came before and I’m eager to find out what happens next.

The cast's new look beginning in the second half of Season 3. (copyright LucasFilm)

There will always be the argument that since we’ve seen the events of “Revenge Of The Sith,” there’s no tension involved in having characters we know survive running around getting into adventures. To that I will always say, “You’re really missing the point!” The Expanded Universe in Star Wars is just that, an expansion on what we already know, or think we know. It’s the most superficial approach to only be concerned with the outcome. In The Clone Wars series we learn a lot more about Anakin and Obi-Wan, and of the Republic’s fragile state. Not every conflict is life and death. If that’s the only conflict you find gratifying, then yes, you may be watching the wrong series. Take Obi-Wan’s “relationship” with Duchess Satine Kryze. It has shaped him as a character and since there’s a promise of more Mandalorian episodes, it likely will continue to mold both him and our perception of him.

And there are plenty of characters whose fates are not yet known, not the least of which is Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex. We get to know many other individual clones and as the series progresses, the death toll mounts. We see clones bravely sacrifice themselves. We also see clones we know meet fates they don’t deserve, but such is the horror of war.

The Clone Wars successfully shows all sides of the conflict, including the front-line clones and Jedi, the Senate and politicians, and even, admirably, the “villians” get featured. We see the Separatist government and begin to understand that there’s a lot more to this story than clones shooting droids. Maybe the politics don’t interest everyone and all some fans want are lightsaber duels and things blowing up real good. We’re into the 4th Season, so everyone watching should be aware of what the series is and isn’t. You’ll look like a fool at this stage expressing “surprise” at the intention of the producers here. There were will be lightly toned episodes and there will be dark, violent episodes. Since 1977, this has been the spectrum of Star Wars. The Prequels maintained that balance and so does The Clone Wars.

Achieving balance is, in a way, the entire point of the Star Wars story.